Kings building back to the future for NBL25 title tilt

The Sydney Kings’ quest for a third straight NBL title never truly got off the ground in NBL24.

The addition of a new coach in Mahmoud Abdelfattah and the departure of key local pair Xavier Cooks and DJ Vasiljevic meant they had to build their roster in a different fashion to those title-winning teams of the two seasons past.

Now, with Brian Goorjian at the helm, the Kings have gone back to their roots.

The additions of proven NBL talents Bul Kuol and Izayah Le’Afa, and collegiate stars Keli Leaupepe and Tyler Robertson, have the Kings building a local core that is set to be a behemoth that could rival any team in the history of the competition.

Add in the re-signings of key role players Kouat Noi and Shaun Bruce and the likely continued improvement of Makuach Maluach, and it’s a team that is already striking fear across the competition.

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There are airs of the Kings from 2019 and 2020 about this current roster build.

On that occasion key collegiate talents Jordi Hunter (Saint Mary’s) and Vasiljevic (University of Miami) arrived at the club in 2019 and 2020 respectively, while established NBL talents Bruce and Angus Glover both came in to strengthen the core.

There is also, of course, the initial addition of Cooks in 2019 when he came back to Australia after a season in Germany.

Kings CEO Chris Pongrass started his tenure at the Kings in 2019, just prior to that initial roster build towards the NBL22 and NBL23 triumphs with Chase Buford, and he says there’s been a marked return to a local-first mentality ahead of next season at the club.

“What you’re starting to see in this league is the importance of local players,” Pongrass told NBL Media.